Comments on: Work-Life Balance in Japan

By: Kaoslord999

Kaoslord999 — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:44:00 +0000

I’m an English teacher who has now been “recruited” into a private school for a full-time position.
I never had to worry about unpaid overtime in a low-paying position, but now that I have a somewhat liveable wage, I’m doing overtime pretty much every day.

I try to draw the line at 2 hours overtime tops, but usually when the end of my working hours rolls around, the scenario is EXACTLY like that manga, and I’m still pretty much the first to leave every day.

I’ve found Japan to be a country that will walk all over those who don’t assert themselves.
Conservative and capitalist to global extremes, the idea of “loyalty to the group being more important than your life” is something that’s been deeply ingrained in Japanese culture.

To be a foreigner working here is a role that really requires one to draw hard lines, and keep them there.
No one holds a gun to your head to stay overtime, it’s something almost telepathically pressured.
However, if one asserts themselves, makes a plan from day one to never do unpaid overtime, and really works hard to keep their work/life balance healthy, then it’s possible to survive and be happy here.

However, you will always be under attack from the wills and pressures of others to conform. Your values are something you really need to be firm about and not let others try and change/manipulate.

By: The Naked Listener’s top 10 lifehacks for the first-time jobhunter or employee (Part 1) « The Naked Listener's Weblog

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:37:23 +0000

[...] late’ via Tanmaya’s ♦ Model worker woman via Imagerise ♦ Overtime in Hell via Gukuranman ♦ Comeback graphic via Mother Jones ♦ All other images by the author or in author’s [...]

By: David

David — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:57:00 +0000

Dear friends,

I am writting from Spain. I’ve already launched a survey -in Spanish, French, English and German- to ask men and women how do they live the work life Balance. I’ve just started three weeks ago and I have more than 1000 responses. I hope you can help to publicize it. The survey is on internet: http://www.eightyoghurt.com

I see in Japan is hard to live the work life Balance, but in Spain, and I think over the world, we’re not many man talking about equality from our men side. I hope this survey will help to give solutions to woman to get tools to negotiate.

By: Tipster

Tipster — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 09:13:00 +0000

the work ethic of Japanese people is well known all over the world. Why else do you think Japan ( a considerably small country) has become one of the world’s leading economies. It is made by the japanese people and the price for that is payd by most workers. But that is the same in Germany and offices all around the world!

By: Apryl Peredo

Apryl Peredo — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:10:00 +0000

I have been working for a Japanese company and notice that all the company employees regularly work until 7pm, 8pm, 9pm. As a contract employee, I am not required to work overtime – and there is no provision in my contract to even receive overtime pay – but what I find is this: the workers here MUST work overtime to get their daily work done BECAUSE their work method is highly inefficient and slow paced. I have the same work load as one of the company employees – and truthfully, most days I am through with my tasks 2 hours before days end. My company equivalent is several tasks behind.

In Japan, it seems to be quite true that you are viewed as a good employee by the TIME spent at work, NOT by what you actually accomplish while there.

By: StoneValley

StoneValley — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 22:15:00 +0000

That is the thing Japan has to think about. Why is it workers in the western countries work fewer hours yet get payed more than the Japanese?

By: Gakuranman’s “Work-Life Balance in Japan” | Tokyo Traveler

Gakuranman’s “Work-Life Balance in Japan” | Tokyo Traveler — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:21:51 +0000

[...] Gakuranman’s Work-Life Balance in Japan Page [...]